Happy Holidays from the team at Steinberg Hart! This year’s holiday card was imagined by Steinberg Hart Partner Michael Miller. The concept is a play on the surrealist exquisite corpse drawings, a game in which each participant takes turns writing or drawing on a sheet of paper, folding it to conceal his or her contribution, and then passing it to the next player for a further contribution. The game gained popularity in artistic circles during the 1920s when it was adopted as a technique by artists of the Surrealist movement to generate collaborative compositions. This drawing is “Steinberg Hart meets exquisite corpse,” assembling six drawings of six Steinberg Hart projects of varying scales and typologies across the country.

Now the tallest structures in the city of San Jose, California MIRO’s twin towers bring 630 units to downtown, fusing the art of spatial storytelling with the commitment to bettering downtown. Topping out at 28 stories with over 1.1 million square feet, MIRO is a true mixed-use project that adds much-needed housing supply to the local market. Through its elegant design and many desirable amenities, the project supports the San Jose Mayor’s long-held vision of building a vibrant and high-reaching downtown. The dynamic mixed-use property features two towers arising from a shared podium and approximately 50,000 square feet of amenities. It architecturally complements the iconic San Jose City Hall, creating a visual gateway and new landmark in downtown San Jose. The transformative project was awarded an AIA Silicon Valley Design Award and the Silicon Valley Business Journal Structures Award.

The city of Taylor, a quintessential small Texas town, is one of the many neighborhoods surrounding Austin that is experiencing substantial growth generated by the Tech-Industry’s move to Texas. To serve the eclectic range of folks moving to Taylor, the new Castlewood neighborhood will host a diverse range of housing typologies such as single-family homes, townhome rentals, and the 150,000 SF Castlewood Mixed-Use apartment complex. As a nod to the Dog Trot houses historically found in Texas, Castlewood Mixed-Use incorporates four unique levels of covered breezeways centrally located in the building. Each dog trot level is uniquely programmed to offer a variety of outdoor amenities and a reprieve from the Texas heat.  The orientation of the Dog Trots are situated to take advantage of the natural wind paths in Taylor.
On a site that brings together market rate housing, senior housing, mixed-use, and outdoor amenities, Ellore Senior Living will act as a catalyst for the neighborhood and its extended community to grow and flourish. The senior living tower will feature 176 units dedicated to the diverse needs of our growing senior population. The programming serves three groups of individuals: those needing memory care or life guidance, those in assisted living, and those in respite, or post-operative care. Ellore’s diverse mixed-use program also includes retail, a hair salon, a bistro, and a preschool. The site’s numerous communal spaces encourage interaction between this diverse and multi-generational tenant mix. The tower’s first residents will begin moving in January of 2025.

The loft-like two-story museum, supported by sprightly and highly sustainable whole tree columns, acts as an armature for hands-on exhibits and technology to stimulate the imagination of young people. The colorful, flexible 24,000 square foot interior space offers non-traditional learning opportunities that assist kids of all ages make their way through important developmental milestones. The installations within the museum can be reimagined without affecting the building structure, inspiring discovery and creativity, as activities and opportunities for kids’ growth evolve in future decades. The museum joins other local and regional resources to provide an accessible but secure, fun, and educational space for all ages. The project is carbon neutral, and was awarded the 2024 Metropolis Planet Positive Award and an AIA Wisconsin Design Award.

To improve the health, safety, and wellbeing of its residents and employees, the County of San Diego created the Live Well San Diego initiative: a vision for the region based upon the tenets of Building Better Health, Living Safely, and Thriving. The Center fulfills that vision by serving as an accessible and convenient hub for the community. Services that are available include nutrition assistance, family strengthening services, financial and employment assistance, public health, restorative justice, services for older adults and people with disabilities, and services for veterans. The building incorporates a significant interior and exterior public art program with murals whose themes and imagery were developed in concert with community members and local artists. They represent and celebrate the history, diversity, and cross-cultural experiences of the community while educating, creating beauty, inspiring, and healing. The project has won numerous major awards in 2024, including the DBIA National Award of Merit, American Public Works Association Project of the Year, and ENR National Best-in-Class and Excellence in Sustainability Award.

The Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Facility (UTLF) at UC Riverside creates a new campus gateway and provides the University with critically needed classroom, laboratory, and dance studio space. This 100,000 SF interdisciplinary building will foster collaboration between the three colleges represented in the building: College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, The College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and Bourns College of Engineering. The design concept distributes laboratory, classroom, and dance space across the building to create an interdisciplinary culture that actively exposes students to other schools of thought. The strategy was inspired by Associate Provost and Chief of Staff Ken Baerenklau’s ambition that the building encourage “science students to take a dance class, and dance students to take a science class.”

Once again, wishing you all the happiest of holidays from all of us at Steinberg Hart. Thank you for your support, collaboration, and partnership. Together, we can create the world we want through design, relationships, and change. Want to know more about what we’ve been up to this year? Check out our latest news.